Frysk 1, Kernel 0?

Frysk is a user-level, always-on, execution analysis and debugging tool designed to work on large applications running on current Linux kernels. Since Frysk, internally, makes aggressive use of the utrace, ptrace, and /proc interfaces, Frysk is often the first tool to identify regressions and problems in those areas. Consequently, Frysk, in addition to its GNOME application and command line utilities, includes a kernel regression test-suite as part of its installation.

This paper will examine Frysk's approach to testing, in particular the development and inclusion of unit tests directly targeted at kernel regressions. Examples will include a number of recently uncovered kernel bugs.